


Catching Embers

by serendipitymadness



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Family, Family Feels, Friendship, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23764276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitymadness/pseuds/serendipitymadness
Summary: Growing up together, Akane and Zuko were thick as thieves. Although relationships change over time, and nothing ever stays the same, but one thing for sure is that Akane and Zuko will be together no matter what.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Catching Embers

**Author's Note:**

> So it’s taken me over a year but I figured that I’d finally get started on this Prequel. I’ve planned it out and the prequel should have twenty chapters and will follow Akane and Zuko’s friendship from now to before the start of the series. Hope you guys enjoy it :).

At four years old, Akane and Zuko were as thick as thieves. Ursa had watched as their friendship blossomed from the moment they met each other. initially, Akane had struggled to adapt to life at the royal palace as an infant. That was before she met Zuko, and it was hard for Ursa not to notice how taken the girl was with her son. Ursa’s hopes for a friendship between the two had come into fruition and it was rare to see either of them without the other. For a pair of four year old’s, Akane and Zuko certainly knew how to get around.

Then came Zuko’s younger sister, Azula. Ursa also had hopes that maybe one day, the three of them would become the best of friends and stand by each other. Of course there wasn’t much that they could do with Azula now, since she was only two-years-old and could barely talk. But Ursa had wanted Zuko to grow up with happiness and support, something that she had doubted her son would have with a father like Ozai.

Going into her marriage with Ozai, Ursa knew that the man was never someone that she would want to start a family with. The man was purely cold and borderline cruel at times, a trait which seemed to transcend the members of the royal family. though Ozai’s brother, Iroh, would have to be an exception. Despite the fact that Iroh had been raised by the ruthless Azulon, Iroh had turned out to be quite a pleasant man. When Ursa first met him, she had expected Iroh to be just like his brother, only he wasn’t’. There was just something about Iroh that Ozai lacked, and that something made Ursa feel more comfortable around him than she ever did around Ozai. His son, Lu Ten, had that same energy about him that made Ursa all too happy to let Iroh’s son play with Akane and Zuko.

“No fair, Tenny!” Akane’s voice could be heard from across the garden. “You’re too big!”

“Well, it’s not my fault you guys are midgets,” Lu Ten remarked.

“I’m gonna tell mom!” Akane exclaimed before she headed off towards Ursa, who was sitting nearby.

Every time Akane referred to her as her mother, Ursa’s heart skipped a beat. When they first started to raise Akane, Ursa didn’t know how they were supposed to treat her because they weren’t her parents. However, Ozai had insisted that they treated Akane as their own, and since Ursa knew better than to argue with her husband, she had allowed Akane to call her mother. That didn’t sit right with Ursa, since as far as she was aware, Akane’s real parents were out there somewhere without their daughter while she referred to two people as her parents when they weren’t.

“Momma!” Akane cried as she approached Ursa. “Tell Tenny to stop cheating. It’s no fun.”

“And just how is your cousin cheating?” Ursa wondered.

“I’m not cheating at all, Aunt Ursa,” Lu Ten replied with the most innocent smile on his face. “Akane is just mad that she can’t keep up with me.”

“You’re too big,” Akane stuck her tongue out.

“I’d rather be big than a midget,” Lu Ten remarked.

“Cousy Tenny,” Zuko’ said as he tugged on his cousins sleeve. “Can we go to the barn?”

“Can we, Aunt Ursa?” Lu Ten asked her.

Ursa smiled, “Of course you can. Just don’t get up to too much mischief.”

“Of course we won’t!” Lu Ten called out as he grabbed his two cousins and threw them over his shoulders, causing them to laugh.

A smile came over Ursa’s face as she watched them leave. Despite the eight-year age gap between Lu Ten and Akane and Zuko, the three of them were close. Ursa never had to worry about Akane and Zuko when they were with him because she completely trusted her nephew to look after them.

“I do love seeing them play together.”

Ursa turned around to see Iroh standing behind her. By now she was used to Iroh always lingering in the shadows, but Iroh didn’t unnerve Ursa like Ozai did when he appeared out of nowhere.

“I wish that I’d had a sibling like that to grow up and play with,” Ursa sighed.

“I never got the chance to do those sort of things with Ozai,” Iroh stated, referring to the sixteen-year age gap between the two brothers.

“Do you think he would have wanted to?” Ursa asked.

Iroh chuckled, “Any game with my brother most likely would have resulted in him throwing a temper tantrum.”

“It just makes me glad to see that Zuko has a friend there for him. I hope that they will become great friends with Azula too,” Ursa said.

“Hm,” Iroh murmured thoughtfully.

“What are you thinking, Iroh?” Ursa asked.

“I am thinking that Ozai sees great potential for Azula. She had the spark that Zuko lacked when he was born,” Iroh replied.

Ursa sighed, “I do not wish to dwell on that. Zuko might struggle in life, but I would not care if my son is a non-bender. I would love him the same either way.”

“That is easier for you to say, Ursa. And although I would share the same sentiments, there would be no greater embarrassment to a royal bloodline than for a Fire Lord to produce a non-bender,” Iroh said.

“Ozai thinks that Akane will be ready to start her training soon,” Ursa changed the subject.

Iroh nodded, “She has shown signs of unlocking her bending abilities.”

“I just hope that when she does begin to firebend, Ozai does not treat them differently,” Ursa said.

“What do you know about my brothers intentions with that girl?” Iroh wondered.

Ursa narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean?”

“It has always bemused me how one day; I woke up and discovered that my brother found a child that he was suddenly calling his own. That, and the fact that Ozai has told nobody of where she has truly come from. I just find it strange how my brother just brought her into the Royal Family out of nowhere,” Iroh clarified.

“I suppose I did find it strange. When I first met Akane, she certainly seemed more shy around Ozai whereas she quickly took to me. By now I have learned that it is better not to question Ozai’s intentions or his motives and to just accept what he has told me despite the fact that I do not necessarily believe it,” Ursa replied.

“What is it that you were told about where she came from?” Iroh questioned.

“The same story as you were told, I can assume. That she was abandoned and Ozai saw great potential in her,” Ursa answered.

“I have my theories about why he had brought the child into our family,” Iroh stated.

“And what would that be?” Ursa wondered.

“Akane is almost the exact same age as Zuko. I find it strange how my brother would pare her with his son that he saw no potential in and wanted to throw away the moment he was born. but Ozai is convinced that Akane will bring great things to the royal family, and i can’t help but wonder what he thinks that will be. to me it comes across as though Ozai wants to groom her into his protege, and maybe even his successor, since he sees no potential in Zuko,” Iroh said.

Ursa gasped, “You think that Ozai would replace Zuko with Akane in our family?”

“It is possible, especially if Akane does bring greatness to us and there is nothing that my brother wants more than power,” Iroh answered.

“I don’t think that Akane would want to betray Zuko like that. She loves him,” Ursa smiled.

“You of all people should know how hard it is to refuse my brother, Ursa. If Ozai wants her to replace Zuko, she will,” Iroh stated.

“I wish that Ozai had had someone like Akane in his life when he was younger. Maybe then he wouldn’t be so… like he is now,” Ursa commented.

“Any companion that my brother had would have to have dealt with him being in power. None of his relationships have ever had an equal balance,” Iroh said.

That was something Ursa had to agree with. Despite her best attempts to have equality in her relationship with Ozai, there was no denying that he was in charge of their relationship. It made Ursa feel trapped at times, and the more trapped she felt the more she recalled her life back in Hira’a, namely Ikem. Ursa often wondered how her life would have turned out if she had been able to marry Ikem like she wanted to. Ursa already knew that her life would’ve been much happier if she had been able to choose her own path.

“Is there something else on your mind, Ursa?” Iroh wondered.

Ursa sighed, “Thinking about Akane and Zuko reminds me of my childhood. It was hard to leave it behind.”

“I understand, Ursa. My wife Hisoka felt the same way. Despite her knowing what marrying into the Royal Family meant, the absence from her home never grew easier. But I never allowed her to forget where she came from,” Iroh said.

“That is what I try doing on my own, since Ozai is seemingly determined to make me forget my past life,” Ursa commented.

“You should never forget where you came from, Ursa. You should always remember the happy memories of the past and hold onto them when you need to,” Iroh insisted.

“Thank you, Iroh. You always seem to know just what to say,” Ursa smiled.

“I’m always happy to lend an ear when you need them, Ursa,” Iroh stated.

With their conversation over, Iroh got up to leave and Ursa headed in her own direction – to the barn. Even if Ursa didn’t know where they were, she could always count on them being at the palace barn, since it was Akane’s favourite place and she always had a way with Zuko and Lu Ten. Sure enough, they were still busy playing together and it just made Ursa’s heart swell with happiness to see them happy.

“Aunt Ursa! We weren’t getting up to anything mischievous if that is what you are here for,” Lu Ten called out.

Ursa chuckled, “Of course not. I trust that you three wouldn’t get up to any mischief without any adult supervision. What is it that you three are doing?”

“I’m telling them about the animals,” Lu Ten replied.

“What’s that thing?” Akane asked, pointing to one of the stables.

“That, little cousin, is an armadillo bear,” Lu Ten answered.

“It’s kinda scary,” Zuko murmured as he hid behind Lu Ten.

“It can’t hurt you, sweetheart. You’re perfectly safe where you are,” Ursa reassured him.

“Hey, here’s a question for you two. If you could be any animal what would it be?” Lu Ten questioned.

“I’d be a turtle duck,” Zuko said.

“I wanna be a dragon!” Akane exclaimed.

“Dragons aren’t alive anymore, Akane,” Lu Ten pointed out.

Akane stuck her tongue out, “I don’t care. I’ve seen pictures of dragons and I want to be one!”

“What animal would you want to be, Lu Ten?” Ursa asked her nephew.

“I’d fancy being a flying dolphin,” Lu Ten replied. “What about you, Aunt Ursa?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know what to pick. I love all animals,” Ursa said. “I know, why don’t you three pretend to be your favourite animals?”

“Yay! That’s fun!” Akane exclaimed as she began making dragon noises and flapping her arms around like wings.

Watching the three of them play together always did bring a smile to Ursa’s face, and she could always count on them to make her feel at home. Even though Ursa would always miss her life back at Hira’a, life at the Royal Palace wasn’t always that bad, so long as she had her three favourite children around.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, these chapters are certainly going to be a whole lot more shorter than Flying Embers was. Updates should also be slower, like only once or twice a month depending on when I post. Let my know if you guys have any thoughts on what you’d want to see in the story for Akane and Zuko.


End file.
